io9: Fascinating Abandoned Mansions from Around the World

In the spirit of October and Halloween, here is a repost of some spooky Mansions from around the world…stay tuned for one of abandoned theme parks with beautiful photography

Château Miranda or Château de Noisy, Celles, Belgium

Château Miranda was built in 1866 by an English architect for the Liedekerke-Beaufort family. The family lived there until World War II, when it was taken over by the National Railway Company of Belgium. It’s empty since 1991, in part because the family refuses to turn it over to the municipality of Celles.

Halcyon Hall, Bennett College, Millbrook, New York

Halcyon Hall was originally built as a luxury hotel in 1890, but closed in 1901. However, the hall enjoyed a second life when, a few years later, the Bennett School for Girls moved in, making the building home and school to students from prominent families. However, with the rise of coeducational schooling, the Bennett failed to thrive, going bankrupt and shuttering its doors in 1978.

Kasteel van Mesen, Lede, Belgium

The almost 500-year-old (built in 1628) building has functioned as a castle, a gin distillery, a tobacco factory, and, after World War I, a boarding school for girls financed by the Belgian aristocracy. In 1971, after French education was banned in Flemish regions, the school ceased activities and the building was abandoned. It was demolished in 2010.

Lillesden Estate Mansion, later The Lillesden (or Bedgebury) School for Girls, UK

This mansion was built between 1853 and 1855 by a banker named Edward Lloyd. After World War I, the house was sold and became a public school for girls. It closed in 1999, and the building has been abandoned since then.

Bannerman Castle, Bannerman Island, New York

A Scottish immigrant, Francis Bannerman purchased the island in 1900 and built a castle to advertise his military surplus business. Two years after Bannerman’s death in 1918, 200 tons of ammunition shells and powder exploded, destroying a small part of the structure. Then in 1969, a fire destroyed the floors and roofs as well. The island is vacant, uninhabited since 1950, after the only ferryboat that serviced the island sank in a storm. In 2009, one-third of the remaining structure collapsed.